The Prodigal Son

Upon learning that Zhao Po and Xue Lie had arrived, Qin Yu hurriedly went outside.

"Haha! Qin Yu, you're really going to be famous throughout the land now!"

Upon seeing Qin Yu, Xue Lie rushed forward with a loud laugh and punched Qin Yu in the chest.

"what!"

Qin Yu let out an exaggerated shout and staggered backward.

"Thirteenth Young Master!"

Qi Dachui exclaimed in surprise and rushed forward to support Qin Yu with one hand, while tightly gripping the Golden Gourd Hammer with the other, staring intently at Xue Lie as if he wanted to smash Xue Lie to death with one blow.

"..."

Xue Lie's face twitched slightly, staring at Qin Yu with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. "Could you fucking pretend any more convincingly?"

That bastard!

He's clearly setting himself up!

He didn't even put in any effort, yet he acted like this?

Does he think he doesn't know his own strength?

Qin Yuchong shook his head slightly at Qi Dachui, then laughed heartily, "It's been so long since we last met, I was just joking with you, wasn't I?"

"I think you're just bored and have nothing better to do!"

Xue Lie glared at him, his eyes wide. "If you had acted any more convincingly, Qi Dachui's hammer would probably have come crashing down on me!"

"Look at what you're saying."

Qin Yu chuckled and bowed to Zhao Po again.

Zhao Po nodded slightly, looking at Qin Yu with a smile, "You've really given us a huge surprise!"

"No, no! It was all thanks to the soldiers' bravery!"

Qin Yu smiled modestly, inviting them to sit down while asking, "What brings you here?"

Zhao Po chuckled and said, "We were worried about your situation and offered to come help, but we didn't expect you to have already finished the battle and captured so many enemy soldiers! If we had known this, we wouldn't have made this trip..."

They received news from Yun Zhao that Qin Yu had led his troops to occupy Yuwang Pass.

They were also worried that Qin Yu would be attacked from both sides, so after successfully occupying Yuyang and Qixia Pass, they rushed over immediately.

Fang Junji was worried that Qin Yu lacked defensive experience, so he specially sent Xue Lie over.

If necessary, Xue Lie can also help if a breakout is required by splitting up forces.

As it turned out, Fang Junji's worries were completely unnecessary.

This kid is just like a seasoned old fox!

He not only defended Yuwang Pass at a very low cost, but also successfully forced the enemy to surrender.

On the contrary, Fang Junji's side had almost no decent achievements except for the pursuit battle in Yiling.

Hearing Zhao Po's words, Qin Yu was overjoyed and asked, "How is Yu Jing doing?"

As he spoke of this, Xue Lie's expression immediately turned serious. "Yu Jing should have guessed our intentions by now. He hasn't gone to war with the Yan Kingdom..."

After Yu Jing fled to Shouchong, he used the pretext of killing Yu Wu and driving out the Yan people to recruit soldiers and horses on a large scale, attracting many powerful families in the Min state to join him.

Now, Yu Jing has nearly 50,000 troops under his command.

However, more than half of them were unarmored troops.

However, Yu Jing only recruited soldiers and horses, but did not attack Guanzhou.

After defeating Yan Mu, whose army was reduced to remnants, and fully occupying Guanzhou, the Yan state did not launch any further attacks on Xuanzhou.

The two sides seemed to have reached a tacit understanding, which completely thwarted their previous plans.

Someone close to Yu Jing secretly informed them that Yu Jing knew that with his ragtag army, he had no chance of protecting the Min Kingdom. Now, Yu Jing was pondering whether to ally with Da Ning or the Yan Kingdom.

"Does this... even need to be considered?"

Qin Yu was both amused and exasperated, unsure of what to say for a moment.

You might say Yu Jing is tactless, but he knows the Min Kingdom is doomed and has started planning his escape route.

You could say he's sensible, but he's getting hung up on such a simple question.

Since he knows that the Min Kingdom cannot be saved, it's better to seek refuge with the Da Ning Kingdom than with the Yan Kingdom, right?

No matter what, the Min Kingdom's ties with the Da Ning Kingdom are deeper than its ties with the Yan Kingdom, right?

"That's right!"

Xu Wan scoffed, "If we don't help him, he'll still be a stray dog. What right does he have to make a choice?"

Hearing Xu Wan's words, Nan Que'er and the others nodded in deep agreement.

"You don't understand."

Xue Lie gently shook his head. "That's human nature!"

"We were his benefactors before! But when he learns that the Min Kingdom cannot be saved, his thoughts may change!"

"From Yu Jing's perspective now, we have occupied the land of Min and destroyed Min! He might consider us his enemies!"

"If he wants a peaceful life, he should cede territory to Da Ning and accept Da Ning's rewards. If he is resentful and wants to take revenge on Da Ning, he can only rely on the Yan state..."

Under normal circumstances, if Yu Jing were even slightly more rational, he should indeed have offered land to Daning.

Given his status, he should at least be granted the title of Duke of a Commandery.

But everyone has moments of feeling resentful.

Moreover, Yu Jing is the Crown Prince of Min.

If he considers Da Ning to be the mastermind behind the destruction of the Min Kingdom, then it is understandable that he wants to take revenge on Da Ning.

Now, it all depends on what Yu Jing and his advisors think.

"All right!"

Qin Yu smiled helplessly, "I hope he can make the right choice!"

He didn't quite understand Yu Jing's struggle to begin with.

After Xue Lie's analysis, he understood instantly.

The complete annexation of Min by Da Ning is now a fait accompli!

Let Yu Jing decide for himself!

"Alright, let's not talk about Yu Jing anymore!"

Xue Lie didn't bother thinking about it anymore. "Let's talk about your situation first! I've heard that the defenses in the eastern part of Gongzhou in Chu are extremely weak, allowing you few thousand men to run rampant. Why don't you take this opportunity to occupy the eastern part of Gongzhou?"

"Occupy...occupy?"

Qin Yu frowned slightly. "We're just waiting to negotiate with Chu now. Wouldn't it be a bad idea to send troops to occupy eastern Gongzhou at this time?"

Is he testing me, or does he really have such thoughts?

If he really has this idea, then it's worth considering!

"What's wrong with it?"

Xue Lie glared at him, his eyes wide. "It's precisely because we're negotiating with Chu that we need to occupy southern Gongzhou! If Chu sends troops to attack, we'll fortify our cities and wear down their forces! If Chu doesn't attack, we'll continue occupying their land! As for withdrawing troops, we can discuss that at the negotiating table!"

"this……"

Qin Yu continued to probe, "It's not advisable to launch another major attack right now. If things get out of control, I'm afraid..."

"What's there to be afraid of!"

Xue Lie rudely interrupted him, "Go ahead and do it without worry. If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility!"

"I can take on this too!"

Zhao Po declared emphatically, "At this stage of the war, we must find ways to gain as much benefit as possible! How much benefit can we get in return for 20,000 prisoners? We must occupy Chu's territory and force Chu to offer more in exchange for our withdrawal!"

"..."

Looking at the two people in front of him, Qin Yu couldn't help but laugh and cry.

He always thought of himself as a radical.

Turns out, I was a conservative?

Since we've come this far, let's do it!

Anyway, he already had some ideas.

With these two guarantors now, what's there to be afraid of?

Anyway, someone will take the blame if something goes wrong!